A man convicted of assaulting Capitol officers during the riot on January 6, 2021, is calling for “accountability” for the lies surrounding the 2020 election. He stormed the U.S. Capitol that day to cause chaos in an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election.
Brian Mock was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, less than the nine years the prosecutors wanted. A government sentencing memo noted Mock’s multiple assaults on law enforcement officers and his numerous false statements during the trial. Mock will spend less than two more years in jail, counting the time he’s already served.
At his sentencing, Mock, a Trump supporter, talked about hearing the same false claims of election fraud from Republican politicians. He also pointed out that none of these politicians had apologized or admitted they were wrong about the January 6 attack.
“There should be some accountability for that because I wouldn’t have been there otherwise,” Mock told Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. Boasberg agreed that politicians who falsely claimed the election was stolen should be “ashamed of themselves.”
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During sentencing proceedings, many January 6 defendants relied on the “idiot” defense. They claimed they believed election lies due to being gullible, manipulated, or lacking critical thinking skills. But Boasberg, who had gotten to know Mock well, said he found Mock more intelligent and reflective than the others.
“You’re too smart to have been fooled by the lies about the election,” Boasberg commented. The district judge felt Mock should have been more “perspective and thoughtful” of the false narrative spread by politicians supporting Trump’s claims.
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Mock represented himself at his trial. He also questioned his son, A.J. Mock, who had alerted the FBI about his father’s involvement in the attack. Also, prosecutors mentioned in their sentencing memo that Mock presented Tommy Tatum during the trial. Tatum also participated in the January 6 events and attended trials of Capitol rioters as an “independent journalist.”
They mentioned that Mock attempted to conceal Tatum’s encouragement of violence against police officers by playing his videos without sound. Tatum himself has not faced charges related to the Capitol attack.
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According to evidence, Mock spent over three hours at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, engaging in various illegal actions. He assaulted law enforcement officers, removed barricades, stole government property, and encouraged the rioters. He committed assaults, including shoving fallen officers, throwing a broken flagpole, and depriving officers of riot shields as they retreated.
Following the bench trial, Mock was convicted of four counts of assault on law enforcement officers. Michelle Peterson, Mock’s attorney, stated in a court filing that Mock “has grown, matured, and become much more self-reflective” since the Capitol attack.
However, in an interview with NBC News, Brian Mock slightly shifted his stance from what he expressed in court. He indicated that he was open to the possibility that evidence concerning the 2020 election had been “suppressed” by the courts.
Mock gave reasons for traveling to Washington, D.C., after the 2020 election. He said he was “listening to politicians who were congressmen and senators who had looked at the evidence and supported what was being said. And I have yet to see that evidence. But if it doesn’t exist, then at the very least, there needs to be an apology and explanation,” Mock added.
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